Time Magazine has formed a partnership with The Sandbox, an Ethereum-based metaverse, to create a digital setting that is modeled after New York City.
Kieran Warwick, co-founder of Illuvium, which is partly billed as an NTF creature collector game, told The Defiant that the company’s intention to collaborate with The Sandbox as part of its “double down on their metaverse endeavor” was “great news for everybody in the field.”
“The sooner we are able to achieve mass adoption, the more well-known brands we will be able to transition to web 3,” Warwick said.
On June 21, as part of the celebration for NFT.NYC, the Time-Sandbox collaboration was officially put into motion. Time’s New Frontiers Territory (NFT) program, TIMEPieces, will make its premiere on a digital plot of land in The Sandbox. As it’s in a digital New York, TIME Square was the obvious choice for the name of the new development.
TIMEPieces will be a hub for online socializing, artistic expression and commercial activity. Time has launched an open call for architectural designs to be submitted for consideration
The Sandbox is the third-largest metaverse endeavor, with an estimated market worth of $1.1 billion. Republic Realm, the company that developed The Sandbox, paid Atari $4.3 million in November for virtual real estate, purportedly the most expensive transaction involving the purchase of digital land.
TIMEPieces NFT holders will be given virtual access to discussions, events and screenings of TIME Studios’ works, Time President Keith Grossman said, pointing out that this will allow TIMEPieces NFT holders to partake in unique experiences.
“Our goal is to create a destination that will be the heart of the metaverse…,” Grossman said. “We are thrilled to now tap into that community as we seek to find the architect to design TIME Square in the metaverse, as we create an immersive experience with The Sandbox that provides a natural bridge between the virtual community of TIMEPieces, the historical coverage and global relationships of TIME, the unique IP coming from TIME Studios, TIME for Kids and our real-life IRL events.”
Sebastien Borget, co-founder of Pixowl, the producer of The Sandbox, said that by partnering with TIME, The Sandbox is adding TIMEPieces “as the beating heart and soul of this virtual Manhattan, where a design call for virtual architects will be held in TIME Square, a place in our creative metaverse for brands and creators.”
Produced in association with MetaNews.
